Method for separating edible crab meat from non-edible portions of cooked crabs

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and method for vibrating edible crab meat from the core portion of a crab body that has been de-shelled, de-legged and de-fingered and the central core portion of which has been cleaned. The crab body is supported in a core box with the body cavity directed downwardly opposite a discharge opening formed in the bottom of the core box, whereupon the core box is vibrated at about 1500 to 5000 vibrations per minute to shake the crab meat from the core and to deposit the meat particles on an endless conveyor that travels therebeneath. Preferably the core box bottom contains a plurality of pockets having walls converging toward the discharge openings, the crab cores being held in place by suitable cushion means.

This is a division of our application Ser. No. 643,706 filed Dec. 23,1975 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,003,103 and is a continuation-in-part ofapplication Ser. No. 457,554 filed Apr. 3, 1974, now abandoned.

Various proposals have been presented for mechanically removing ediblecrab meat from the core portions of crab bodies that have been cooked,de-shelled, de-legged and de-fingered. Among the prior suggestions arevacuum removal, shock removal, screening of meat particles fromdisintegrated crab bodies, centrifugal separation of particles, shakingof the crab bodies, and the like.

The present invention relates to crab processing apparatus of thevibratory type for removing edible crab means from cooked crab bodies.

Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to providevibratory crab processing apparatus including a core box for supportingin an inverted position over a discharge opening in the bottom of thecore box the core portion of a crab body that has been cooked,de-shelled, de-legged and de-fingered, and the central cavity of whichhas been cleaned, and means for vibrating said core box from between1500 to 5000 vibrations per minute.

According to a more specific object of the invention, the bottom of thecore box includes pockets that have walls which converge toward thedischarge openings, the crab cores being pressed downwardly in thepockets with the cleaned cavities facing the discharge openings by meanssuch as an air cushion or resilient pads that are compressed by thecover member of the core box assembly.

A further object of the invention is to provide a core box holder thatis resiliently supported for vertical and longitudinal movement relativeto the stationary frame of the apparatus, said holder including channelmeans for removably receiving the core box assembly. Eccentric means areprovided for vibrating the core box holder and, consequently, the corebox supported thereby.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent froma study of the following specification when viewed in the light of theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of one embodiment of the vibratory crabbody processing apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a detailed sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the core box;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are top and bottom views of the core box when providedwith the resilient pressing pads;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7--7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a side view of a second embodiment of the apparatus;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken along lines 9--9 of FIG. 8,and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the core box shown in FIG. 9.

Referring first more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the vibratory crabbody processing apparatus includes a stationary frame 2 having upperhorizontal runners 4 which support a pair of vertical stanchions 6 thatare connected by horizontal transverse members 8. Journalled between thestanchions is an upper shaft 10 to which are connected a driven pulley12 and a driving pulley 14, which shaft is driven by motor 16 secured tothe frame, a drive pulley on the motor shaft, and endless belt 18. Alsoconnected between the stanchions are a pair of parallel spaced rods 20,22 to which are pivotally connected at their upper ends pairs of arms24, 26 respectively, which arms rotatably support at their lower ends apair of shafts 28, 30 on which are carried tension pulleys 32 and 34,respectively.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an endless belt 36 mounted on pulleys 14, 32and 34 is mounted also on eccentric drive pulley 38 mounted on shaft 40which carries eccentric weight members 42. Eccentric shaft 40 isjournalled at opposite ends in spaced vertical side plates 44 thatextend upwardly from the opposite sides of the central portion of corebox holder 46. The core box holder comprises a pair of parallel spacedopposed horizontal channel members 48 (FIGS. 3 and 7) that extendlongitudinally above the upper frame runners 4. The core box holder,which includes transverse channels 50, is resiliently connected atopposite ends with the frame 2 by pairs of support springs 52 and 54,respectively. Four lateral springs 56 connected between the core boxholder 46 and the frame 2 stabilize the core box holder against lateralmovement. Consequently, the springs 52, 54 and 56 support the core boxholder primarily for vertical and longitudinal movement relative to theframe. Connected between the frame and the lower ends of pivot arms 24and 26 are tension springs 60, 62 which bias the pivot arms outwardly tocause pulleys 32 and 34 to tension the endless belt 36, whereby upondriving of the eccentric shaft 40 by motor 16 vibratory motion isimparted to the spring-suspended core box holder 46.

Referring now to FIGS. 4-7, a core box assembly 70 is illustrated thatincludes an open-topped tray-shaped core box 72 having side and endwalls 74 and 76, respectively, and a bottom wall 78 that contains aplurality of discharge openings 80. The bottom wall is configured todefine frustoconical or frustopyramidical pockets 78a that convergetoward the discharge openings 80. The size of the discharge openings 80is slightly smaller than that of the core portion of a cooked crab bodythat has been de-shelled, de-legged and de-fingered and the centralcavity of which is cleaned. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, the crab coresare placed in the pockets 78 with their cleaned cavities directed towardthe discharge openings 8. Resilient pads 84 formed of a suitablecompressible material (such as a synthetic plastic foam material) aremounted in the pockets and are pressed downwardly to bias the crab coresagainst the bottom wall 78 by the inverted tray-shaped cover member 86having downwardly depending side and end walls. As shown in FIG. 7, thecore box assembly 70 is adapted for sliding insertion between theU-shaped channel members 48 of the core box holder, the dimensions ofthe components being such that the cover is tightly seated on the corebox with the resilient pads compressed therebetween. Owing to theconnection between the core box and the holder therefor, the core box isshaken simultaneously with the holder by the eccentric means 42,whereupon edible crab meat particles are vibrated from the crab coresand are deposited by gravity upon the upper run of endless conveyormeans 90 that travels beneath the core box holder. Preferably, the rangeof vibration of the core box assembly is about 1500 to 5000 vibrationsper minute, which vibration range produces effective removal of the crabmeat from the core without damage to the edible meat.

Referring now to FIGS. 8-10 illustrating the second embodiment of theinvention, here again, the prepared crab bodies are vibrated within therange of 1500 to 5000 vibrations per minute by eccentric means to shakethe crab meat from the crab core and deposit the meat on a travelingconveyor for easy removal.

More particularly, see FIGS. 8 and 9, a frame 100 is provided withmembers 102, 104 and 106, three angle members 108, 110 and 112 beingcarried by member 106 and adapted to support bearings 114, 116 and 118.An electric motor 120 is provided with a driving pulley 122 forrotating, through a belt 124, a driven pulley 126 fixed to the outer endof a driven shaft 128, the latter being rotatably mounted in thebearings 114, 116 and 118.

A core box holder 130 includes a pair of opposed and spaced apartchannel members 132 and 134 and is adapted to be vibrated within therange of 1500 to 5000 vibrations per minute by means of an eccentric 136formed on or secured to the shaft 128. As shown, an eccentric strap 138surrounds the eccentric 136 and carries a supporting plate 140 which isconnected with a cover plate 142 by means of a plurality of bolts 144.Cover plate 142 overlies the channel members 132 and 134 and is securedto the latter in any suitable manner. With the construction justdescribed, it will be appreciated that when the shaft 128 and eccentric136 are rotated, the core box holder 130 will be vibrated at a speeddepending on the speed of rotation of the shaft 128.

Referring now to FIGS. 9 and 10, a core box assembly is illustratedtherein as including an open-topped, tray-shaped core box 146 havingside rails, 147 interconnected by a plurality of spaced-apartcrab-supporting rails or bars 148, the spacing between the rails 148defining discharge openings 150, the spacing being slightly less thanthe width of the core portion C of a cooked crab that has beende-shelled, de-legged and de-fingered, and the central cavity of whichhas been cleaned. As shown, the crab cores are positioned in rowsbetween adjacent bars 148, it being pointed out that the sides 152 ofthe bars converge downwardly toward the discharge openings 150 and areangularly directed to engage the bony structure of the sides of the crabcores. Thus, as shown in FIG. 9, the sides 153 and 154 of the crab coreclosely engage the sides 152 of the rails 148, the sides of the bodymeaning the opposite portions where the legs were attached. As shown,crab cores C are positioned in an inverted position with the bottoms ofthe crab uppermost and with the cleaned cavities and the mouth portions155 directed downwardly and aligned with the discharge openings 150.

In order to firmly and resiliently hold the crab cores C in positionduring vibration thereof, a pneumatic cushion 156 is positioned beneathcover plate 142, the opposite edges thereof being secured to the members132 and 134. Compressed air may be admitted to the cushion 156 through aflexible hose connection 158 whereupon the cushion will resiliently holdthe crab cores in position as shown in FIG. 9 during vibration of thecore box.

In operation, the core box 146 is loaded with a plurality of rows ofcrab body cores C, the cores being positioned between the rails asheretofore pointed out, that is, with the sides 153 and 154 of thebodies contacting the sides 152 of the rails 148 and with the coresbeing slightly spaced-apart and with the cleaned cavities and mouthportions 155 in line with the discharge openings 150. The core box isthen slid along to the channel members 132 and 134 of the holder 130 tothe position shown in FIG. 9 whereupon the cushion 156 is inflated tohold the crab cores in position. The shaft 128 is then rotated tovibrate the core box within the range 1500 to 5000 vibrations per minutethrough the eccentric 136 and the eccentric strap 138. During thisoperation, the core box will be vibrated in a vertical direction normalto the shaft 128 and the vibration will also include a horizontalcomponent laterally of the shaft 128. In order to stabilize the core boxholder during vibration thereof, a pair of sheets 160, 162 of rubberymaterial such as Neoprene, for example, are provided on opposite sidesof the core box 130, see FIG. 8, the upper edges of the sheets beingsecured to the frame member 106 at 164 and 166 and the lower edges beingattached to the core box in any suitable manner. As the core box 146 andcrab cores C are vibrated, the edible crab meat will be separated fromthe bony shell structure and deposited on the conveyor 168 forsubsequent removal and packing. During the vibration of the crab cores,the edible meat will be shaken out of the crab bodies through thecleaned cavities and mouth portions 155 and it has been found inpractice that the separated meat contains little or no shell or shellfragments and breakage of the choice larger portions such as the lumpmeat is minimized.

While the invention has been shown and described herein withconsiderable particularity it will be understood that variousmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention. Reference will therefore be had to the appended claims for adefinition of the limits of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. The method of removing edible particles of crabmeat from the core of a crab body which has been cooked, de-shelled,de-legged and defingered and the body cavity of which has been cleanedout which comprises supporting the sides of an inverted crab core withthe body cavity directed downwardly while resiliently pressingdownwardly on the uppermost portion of the core, and vibrating thesupported core in the range of 1500 to 5000 vibrations per minute tothoroughly remove the edible crab meat from the crab core.
 2. The methodof removing edible particles of crab meat from the core of a crab bodywhich has been cooked, de-shelled, de-legged, and de-fingered and thebody cavity of which has been cleaned out which comprises supporting thesides of an inverted crab core in a core box with the body cavitydirected downwardly while pneumatically pressing downwardly on theuppermost portion of the core, and vibrating the supported core in therange of 1500 to 5000 vibrations per minute to thoroughly remove theedible crab meat from the crab core while maintaining the crab body inthe same relative position to the core box during vibration.